Transmission



Sept. 11, 1962 G. K. HAUSE 3,053,361

TRANSMISSION Original Filed April 24, 1957 5 SheetsSheet 1 24" 2/ g zzG. K. HAUSE TRANSMISSION Sept. 11, 1962 Original Filed April 24, 1957 5Sheets-Sheet 2 G. K. HAUSE TRANSMISSION Sept. 11, 1962 +H i &

5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Original Filed April 24 1957 Sept. 1962 G. K. HAUSE3,053,361

TRANSMISSION I Original Filed April 24, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 G. K.HAUSE TRANSMISSION Sept. 11, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Original Filed April24, 1957 United rates 4 Claims. (Cl. 192-48) This application is adivision of my application, Serial Number 654,771 filed April 24, 1957.

This invention relates to transmission and final drives for automobiles.

Car designers are now trying to make cars low while providing adequateground clearance. When this was attempted with the types andarrangements of transmission, propeller shaft and differential housingformerly available, it required the transmission and propeller shaft tobe placed above the floor level of the car. Therefore, a so-calledtunnel was used to separate the drive line from the interior of the car.The tunnel is undesirable, and efforts have been made to eliminate it orreduce its height. One such effort involves a unitary assembly of thetransmission housing and differential housing which is placed in thespace under the rear seat and tilted about the axis of the rear Wheelsto lower the front end of the transmission. This lowers the propellershaft.

It is among the objects of the invention to provide an advantageouscombination of transmission and final drive assembly which is especiallysuited to the low car design outlined above, and to provide an improvedand novel form of transmission which makes this combination possible.

More specifically, objects of the invention are to provide an improvedand compact form of transmission which facilitates increasing the lengthof the propeller shaft for a given car design and thus improving theangle of the propeller shaft with respect to engine and transmission,and to provide a transmission which has low ground clearance whileproviding high torque and a high degree of torque multiplication.

It is also an object to provide an improved construction and arrangementof hydrodynamic torque transmitter which makes possible the use of anoverrunning clutch between the input and output shafts and one whichprovides improved flow characteristics of working liquid through thetorque transmitter, and especially through a reaction member.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear inthe following description and accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a transmission and differential assemblyembodying one form of the invention, showing th relationship of thisassembly to the ground when the transmission is placed in a car,

FIG. 2 is a schematic upper half of a longitudinal section which issymmetrical about the axis of rotation of a transmission anddiiferential assembly embodying one form of the invention. In this andsucceeding figures the transmission is shown with its axis parallel tothe ground, for convenience in reading the drawings, this being adifferent position than shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a map showing the relative arrangement of the sheets ofdrawing which include FIGS. 4, 4A, 4B and 40 to constitute one-half of astructural section corresponding of FIG. 2,

FIGS. 4, 4A, 4B, and 4C collectively form the upper half of asymmetrical, longitudinal section of an actual structure of atransmission and difierential assembly embodying one form of theinvention,

ice

FIG. 4 is a section through the front end of the assembly, including theuniversal joint and front pump,

FIG. 4A is a section through the gearing, behind the front pump and infront of the torque converter,

FIG. 4B is a section through the torque converter, in front of thedifferential,

FIG. 4C is a section through the differential, and

FIG. 5 is a section of a one-way clutch on the line 5-5 of FIG. 4A, and

FIG. 6 is a section of another one-way clutch on the line 6--6 of FIG.4A.

General Arrangement Referring to FIG. 1 the transmission anddifferential assembly includes a differential housing 20 having agenerally circular front wall 21 to which is bolted a transmissionhousing designated as a Whole by 22 which includes a torque transmitterhousing 24-, a gear housing 26, a clutch housing 28 and may include auniversal joint housing 30, all secured together in any suitable mannerfrom rear to front in the order named.

The transmission housing 22 is of tapering form and can in general becontained within a truncated cone whose larger base is the front Wall 21of the differential housing 20, and whose smaller base is a circle in aplane whose trace in FIG. 1 is the line 3-2 at the front end of theuniversal joint housing 30. The entire assembly can be rotated about theaxis of the drive axles 34 and may be placed in the car so that thelowermost geometrical element of the truncated cone, which element isrepresented by the broken line 36, is disposed substantially parallel tothe level surface of the ground 38. This arrangement makes it possiblefor the largest part of the transmission housing to be placed in thespace under the rear seat of a car without taking up any room above thenormal lower surface of the car body and permits the customary propellershaft of the car to enter the transmis sion housing at an angle. toplace the propeller shaft as low as possible with respect to the carbody and thus reduce the height of, or eliminate, any tunnel in the carfloor which may be necessary to accommodate the propeller shaft or itshousing. To this end the universal joint housing includes a bearingretainer 40 for the drive shaft disposed at an angle to the axis of thetransmission to receive a propeller shaft which is substantiallyparallel to the ground.

The transmission housing encloses a transmission schematically shown inFIG. 2 and structurally illustrated in FIGS. 4, 4A and 4B.

Referring to FIG. 2 a power input shaft 42, which may be connected to,or a part of, a customary propeller shaft driven by the engine of thecar, is connected to a universal joint 44 which through clutch 46 canselectively be connected to or disconnected from a transmission inputshaft 48 which drives a hydrodynamic torque transmitter, preferably atorque converter 50, which drives a planetary forward and reversereduction gearing 52 physically disposed between the torque converterand the clutch 46. The gearing drives a transmissioin output shaft 54connected to the input shaft 56 of the differential and driving theinput pinion gear 58 which meshes with the differential ring gear 60which drives the axles 34 of the rear wheels in any suitable knownmanner.

The invention includes novel features in the construction andarrangement of the torque converter, in the construction and arrangementof the reduction gearing separately and in combinaion with a torqueconverter, and in the arrangement of the torque converter and its outputshaft with reference to the differential.

The torque converter includes a pump or impeller I of generally knownform represented diagrammatically .speed so that one member drives theother.

vas a drive clutch.

3 in FIG. 2 by a single blade 62 which may be rotated by the input shaft48.

A first turbine T is represented in FIG. 2. by a single blade 64 whichreceives liquid from the pump and discharges it to a second turbine Trepresented by blade 66, which in turn discharges the liquid to a thirdturbine represented by blade 68 which returns the liquid to the impellerI through a stator or reaction member R represented by blades 70 andcontrolled for forward rotation only by a ratchet device 71.

The first turbine T is connected by a drum 72 and shaft 74 to drive theinput sun gear 76 of a first or rear planetary gear set. The secondturbine T is connected by a spider 78 and shaft 80 to drive the inputring gear 82 of a second or front planetary gear set. The ring gear canbe held fast by a reverse ground clutch 84 to effect reverse drive, aswill be explained. The third turbine T is connected by a shaft 86 todrive the carriers 88 and 90, respectively, of the front and rearplanetary gear sets, which carriers support front planetary pinions 92meshing with the front input ring gear 82 and rear planetary pinions 94which mesh with the rear input sun gear 76. A rear reaction ring gear 96meshing with planet pinions 94 completes the rear planetary gear set,and a reaction sun gear 98 meshing with the planet pinions 92 completesthe front planetary gear set.

The T shaft 86 is the principal output shaft of the torque converter,and through carrier 90 it is connected to a transmission output member108 physically located between the torque converter and the gearing. Adrum 102 and flange 104 collectively form a casing surrounding thetorque converter which casing connects the output member 100 to thetransmission ouptut shaft 54.

Heretofore the various definitions of the terms clutch and brake havecaused confusion. Some attempts to define the terms have been based onuse or function regardless of structure while others have been based ontype of structure or arrangement, regardless of use or function. Thishas sometimes led to the definitions of clutch and brake being mutuallyexclusive where they should not be, and has led to overlappingdefinitions where mutual exclusion was intended. None of thesedefinitions which have come to my attention have satisfactorily takencare of the situation in which an identical specimen is sometimes abrake and sometimes a clutch. Neither do they adequately describe asituation in which it is immaterial whether a member is a brake or aclutch as described by reference to structure where the point ininterest is the function of the device regardless of its structure. Toavoid this confusion and indefiniteness the term clutch. is used hereingenerically to mean any device which can be engaged to prevent rotationbetween two members which otherwise are relatively rotatable. If bothmembers are rotatable absolutely the clutch when engaged forces them torotate at the same In this case the generic clutch may be defined morespecifically If one of the members is fixed then engagement of theclutch holds the other member fast, in which case the generic clutch maybe specifically defined as a ground clutch, which is one form of brake.or lock. Where the clutch prevents relative rotation between twomembers in one sense but permits relative rotation in the opposite sensethen the clutch may be subgenerically defined as a one-way clutch orratchet device which is used to mean any device between two relativelyrotatable members which permits the first mem- .ber to rotate in onesense with respect to the second freewheeler becomes a one-way groundclutch or oneway brake, the term used herein to denote both a species ofone-way clutch and also a species of brake.

The sun gear 98 is formed integral with a freewheeler member 106, theupper half of which, as represented in FIG. 2 can turn forward, that isout of the plane of the paper toward the eye of the observer withrespect to a second freewheeler member 108. The freewheeler iscompleted, as symbolically represented in FIG. 2, by a ratchet memberwhich is fixed to the member 186 and engages the member 103 if themember 106 tends to rotate backward. The member 188 is rotationallyfixed to a forward brake 112 which can be held to prevent rotation ofthe freewheeler element 108. When this occurs the sun gear 98 ispositively held against reverse rotation but may rotate forward withrespect to the ratchet device 1tl6118-108. The rear ring gear 96 isrotationally fixed through a drum 114 to a member 116 of a secondratchet device having a ratchet element 118 which engages the member 106whenever the member 116 tends to rotate backward but permits the ratchetmember 116 to rotate forward out of the plane of the paper toward theeye of the observer with respect to the ratchet member 106. In thestructure described herein the freewheelers 106110108 and 196118116 areboth generically one-way clutches. Both freewheelers always function asthe species one-way ground clutch or brake when the forward brake 112 isset. However, when the forward brake 112 is released and the reversebrake 84 is set, the ring gear 96 can drive the sun gear 98 backwardthrough the freewheeler 106118-116 which functions as a one-Way driveclutch but not as a oneway brake The stator blades 70 are each mountedon a spindle 120 having a crank 122 suitably connected to the throttle124 of the engine which drives the car so that the blades can bepositioned to vary with the torque demand on the engine the range oftorque multiplication effected by the torque converter.

In order to prevent the car running faster than the engine and thus inorder to provide engine braking, I place a freewheeler between the inputshaft 48 and the output shaft 54. This is represented schematically inFIG. 2. by the member 126 secured to the drive shaft 48 and fixed to aratchet member 128 which engages member 130 secured to the shaft 54.Whenever the output shaft tends to rotate faster than the input shaft48, the freewheeler 130128126 locks to cause the car to drive theengine.

Operation of General Arrangement The arrangement described operates asfollows:

Assume that the input shaft 42 is driven by the idling engine of anautomobile, that the neutral clutch 46 is engaged and that the car is atrest. The impeller I is rotating slowly.

For forward drive the brake 112 is set and the reverse brake 84 isreleased. When the engine is speeded up the impeller I circulates liquidthru the turbines and impresses torque upon them. Initially thestationary axles 34 hold the carriers 88 and 90 and the turbine Tstationary. T drives the rear input sun gear 76 forward. Because therear carrier 90 is momentarily held stationary the rear pinions 94attempt to drive the rear reaction ring gear 96 backward. This isprevented by the brake 112 and the two freewheelers 1G6118116 and 196118-418 both acting as one-way brakes. The rear or inner race 116 locksthe ratchet element to the center race 166 which locks the ratchetelement 110 to the front or outer race 108, which is held. Consequentlythe ring gear 96 acts as a reaction gear and the carrier 98 is drivenslowly forward, multiplying the torque impressed on turbine T by theratio or mechanical advantage of the rear planetary gear set. Thismotion of the carrier 98 drives the car and also positively drivesforward the front carrier 88 and the third turbine T regardless ofhydraulic conditions in the torque converter. T while exerting itspositive drive necessarily runs faster than the output member 100 andturbine T as determined by the ratio of the rear planetary gear set.

In addition, oil flowing from T to T exerts torque on T which throughshaft 80 drives the front ring gear 82 forward, tending to rotate thefront pinions 92 forward, and when the ring gear 82 rotates fast enough,tending to rotate the front reaction sun gear 98 backward. This isprevented by the front one-way brake 6 110108 which has previously beenlocked by the rear reaction ring gear 96. Consequently, the front ringgear 82 runs at a speed faster than the speed of the carriers asdetermined by the ratio of the front planetary unit and adds its torqueto the output member 100.

On starting the car, and below some definite speed depending upon thedesign of the blades of the torque converter, the third turbine T maynot exert any positive or forward torque derived from the circulatingliquid, but as previously stated it is positively driven by thecarriers. However, at some relative speed of input shaft to output shaftpositive hydraulic torque is impressed on T and its possible speed dueto hydraulic action gradually increases and tends to exceed the actualspeed of the carriers driven by the other turbines. At this point Tassists in driving the car by torque exerted on the main drive linecomposed of shaft 86, carrier 90, output member 100, shell 102, flange104, output shaft 54 and differential shaft 56. As the speed of the carincreases from standstill two things happen successively. First, thetorque delivered to the output member 100 by T through the rearplanetary unit drops to a vanishing point as T reaches its terminalspeed. When the speed of T divided by the torque multiplying ratio ofthe rear planetary unit becomes less than the speed of T 2 divided bythe torque multiplying ratio of the front planetary unit the secondturbine T is driving the carriers and the output member 100 faster thanT can drive them. At this point the carriers 88 and 90, through theplanet gears 94 rotate the ring gear 96 forward and the rear freewheeler 106--118--1l6 breaks away. T idles in the oil stream neithergiving up nor absorbing any appreciable torque. T is now driving the carassisted by T Second, as the speed of the car increases further Treaches its terminal speed and can no longer drive the carriers throughthe front planetary gear set as fast as T can drive them. At this pointthe front planetary gears 92 drive the sun gear 98 forward, the frontfreewheeler 106-110118 breaks away, and T idles in the stream of oil.Thereafter as the speed of the car increases T continues to drive thecar alone, either multiplying the torque of the engine or operating incoupling at substantially one-to-one drive, as is known. Conversely, asthe speed of the car decreases the point is reached where the carrierstend to rotate slower than the speed of T divided by the torquemultiplying ratio of the front planetary gear set. Now T rotates thering gear 82 fast enough to attempt to rotate the sun gear 93 backward.This sets the front freewheeler 196-110- 118 so that T picks up thedrive and assists T in driving the car. If the car slows down still moreT picks up the drive by rotating the sun gear 76 fast enough to try torotate the ring gear 96 backward which sets up the rear freewheeler196l18116 so that T picks up the drive and assists the other turbines indriving the car.

For reverse drive the forward brake 112 is released and reverse brake 84is set to hold front ring gear 82 to act as a reaction gear. This holdsT stationary during all reverse drive. Now T drives the rear input sungear 76 forward which, because the carrier 9% is initially held by thestationary car, drives the ring gear 96 backward and through the rearone-way clutch 106-118-116 drives the sun gear 98 backwards. This ispermitted indeed for although the front freewheeler 10611ti 1'08 tendsto lock the member 108 can rotate backward because it is unopposed bythe released brake 112. Consequently, the rear freewheeler 106-118116acts as a drive clutch for the front sun gear, rotating it backward torotate the carrier 88 backward because reaction ring gear 82 is held,thus driving the car backward. This also carries the turbine T backwardpositively, but is is possible, depending on blade design, to impressreverse hydraulic torque on T so that T will assist in driving the carbackward. This is because the stationary T blades act as a guide wheelor reaction member directing oil from T to the front sides of the Tblades, impressing reverse hydraulic torque on T The rear planetary gearset may have a gear ratio, for example of 2.55 so that when the ringgear 96 is held the sun gear 7 6 and the first turbine T rotate 2.55times as fast as the carrier 99 and the output member 100'. The frontplanetary gear set may have a ratio of about 1.6 so that when the sungear 98 is held the ring gear and second turbine T rotate at 1.6 timesthe speed of the carriers. The third turbine T and the output member 109always rotate together. Thus, at any speed torque delivered to theoutput member 1% by any individual turbine equals the value of hydraulictorque on the turbine (taking into account its algebraic sign or senseof rotation) multiplied by the mechanical advantage of its connection tothe output shaft. Therefore, at stall that is when the car is stationarybut the impeller is rotating, although turbine T may even exert anegative torque on the output member 100 the entire torque converter hasa high positive torque ratio because this negative torque of T is lessthan the high torque of the first turbine multiplied by the mechanicaladvantage of its connection to the output. At stall the torque ratio ofthe torque converter over all may be of the order of four to one. Thetorque ratio of the torque converter, as a whole, decreases until thespeed of the T turbine approaches the speed of the impeller I when thetorque ratio is substantially unity and the condition known as couplingoccurs.

As is known the range of torque multiplication effected by the torqueconverter increases with increase of the angle through which the blades70 change the direction of oil between turbine T and the impeller I. Theconnection of the crank 122 to the engine throttle 124 enables thisangle to be progressively varied with change of throttle opening andhence in accordance with change of torque demand on the engine. When thetorque demand is low, as indicated by a small throttle opening, thestator blades change the direction of the oil relatively little and soprovide a relatively low range of torque multiplication. In thiscondition the blades are said to be at low angle or in low performanceposition. When the throttle is opened wider, the torque demand on theengine is greater and the vanes are moved toward high angle or highperformance position in which they redirect oil from the turbine T thrua large angle to the impeller I. This provides an increased range oftorque multiplication.

Structural Arrangement As shown in FIGS. 4, 4A, 4B, the transmissionhousing 22 may include a single tapered casting extending from thedifferential housing 20 to the universal joint housing 30, provided withshoulders to which may be fastened partitions dividing the transmissionhousing into the component housings which contain the torque converter,gearing, and clutch. The universal joint housig 31 has the smallestaverage diameter of the entire group of housings, and it is separatedfrom the rest of the transmission housing by a flange piloted by a rib141 in the left end of the clutch housing 28 (FIG. 4A) and secured bybolts. A second flange 142 (FIG. 4A) bolted to a shoulder 143 in themain casting separates the clutch housing 28 from the gear housing 26,

7 which in turn is separated from the torque converter housing by athird partition formed by a pair of flanges 146 and 148 bolted to ashoulder 150.

The tapering torque converter casing 24 has a mean or average diameterlarger than the greatest diameter of the gear housing 26, whose meandiameter is larger than the mean diameter of the clutch housing 28 whichin turn is larger than the mean diameter of the U-joint housing 30.

As shown in FIG. 4, at the front end of the transmission, the driveshaft 42 is supported in the bearing retainer 40 of the universal jointhousing 30 by spaced radial bearings 156 and a thrust bearing 158 whichlatter is preferably of the roller or anti-friction type. The front endof the shaft 42 is splined to a flange 160 by which the shaft 42 may beconnected to any suitable propeller shaft, not shown. The flange 160 maybe sealed to the housing 40 by any suitable seal 162. The rear end ofthe shaft 42 forms one end of the universal joint 44, the rear end ofwhich is formed by a clutch input shaft 164 which latter is supported inthe universal joint housing in the following way.

A pump casing 166 is dowelled and bolted to the flange 140, which latterincludes a tubular portion which contains a bearing sleeve 168 inalignment with a second bearing sleeve 170 in a bore of the pump casing166. The bearings 168 and 170 radially support the clutch input shaft164 which is also supported against axial thrust by a thrust bearing 172similar to the thrust hearing 158. The device as so far describedsupports the drive shaft 42, clutch input shaft 164, and universal joint44 radially and axially against thrust in opposite directions. A pumpgear 174 is splined to the clutch input shaft and forms part of thecustomary engine driven or front pump for supplying oil to thetransmission, as will be explained.

Referring now to the output device of the transmission, as shown in FIG.4B the transmission output member 100 is a sleeve formed with anintegral radial flange welded to the output shell or casing 102 andsplined to a sleeve 178 integral with or secured to a part of the rearplanet carrier 90, as will be explained. The sleeve 100 is supported forrotation in a radial bearing 176 in the flange 148. The shell 102extends around the torque converter and bolted to the flange 104 whichis integral with or secured to a central tubular shaft or socket 54which is the previously mentioned final output shaft 54 of thetransmission shown diagrammatically in FIG. 2. The shaft 54 is splinedto the differential input shaft 56 which is supported in thedifferential housing by a front radial bearing 180 and rear radial andthrust bearings 182. Thus the entire output assembly of the transmissionconsisting of output member 100, shell 102, flange 104 and final outputshaft 54 is positioned and supported for rotation in the casing 22 bythe front bearing sleeve 176 and by the differential bearings 180, 182through the differential input shaft 56. A portion of the shaft 54extends to the left inside the flange 104 to form the previouslymentioned inner race 130 of the one-way clutch diagrammaticallyillustrated in FIG. 2. The outer race 126 of this clutch takes the formof the ring 126 shown in FIG. 4B which surrounds one-way rollers orsprags 128 which are the ratchet members 128 of FIG. 2. The outer raceis fixed to a flange 184 which flange is supported for rotation on theinner side of the portion 130 of the shaft 54 by a radial bearing sleeve186 and is splined to the right-hand end of the transmission input shaft48. This supports the righthand end of the shaft for rotation throughthe bearing sleeve 186 and transmission output shaft 54, differentialinput shaft 56 and its bearings 180 and 182. The flange 184 is supportedagainst axial thrust by an anti-friction thrust bearing 187 runningagainst the transmission output shaft 54. In the impeller, the customaryouter shell .188 carrying impeller blades 62 is riveted to the flange 8184 and thus is connected to input shaft 48, the lefthand or front endof which is supported for rotation on the radial bearing sleeve 189 onthe end of the clutch input shaft 164 which has been described assupported for rotation from the casing of the transmission by thebearings 168 and 170 (FIG. 4A).

The neutral clutch 46 in the clutch housing 28 includes an internalclutch drum 190 splined to the clutch input shaft 164 and carryingdriving plates or disks which are interleaved with driven plates ordisks carried by an external clutch drum 192 splined to the front end ofthe transmission input shaft 48. The clutch may be engaged by fluidunder pressure in an expandable chamber 194 enclosed in the externalclutch drum 192 by a piston 196 which operates any suitable forcemultiplying device, such as a Belleville washer or spring 198 to urge aclamping plate 200 to the right to engage the driving and driven plates.The Belleville spring forms the return mechanism for the piston 196 whenthe pressure in chamber 194 is released.

The various shafts of the torque converter and gearing will be describedin the order in which they are placed with reference to the axis of thetransmission.

The transmission input shaft 48 is at the axis. Surrounding the inputshaft and spaced from it to form a stator control passage is a statorsupport or ground sleeve 210 which extends forward through the gearingand is piloted at its front end in the partition 142 and fixed againstrotation. The right or rear end of the sleeve 210 is supported by abearing sleeve 212 on the transmission input shaft 48. The secondturbine shaft outside the ground sleeve 210 is radially supported forrotation at its front end by a bearing sleeve 214 on the front end ofthe ground sleeve 210, and at its rear end by a bearing sleeve 216 inthe rear end of the third turbine shaft 86 which in turn is supported bya bearing sleeve 218 in the rear end of the first turbine shaft 74 whichin turn is supported by bearing sleeve 220 in the output sleeve 178,referred to, which in turn is supported by the bearing 176. Thus therear ends of all of the rotating turbine assemblies are supportedradially from the transmission housing 22 by the flange 148 and thestack of bearings 176220218216. The third turbine shaft 86 extendsforward through both gearsets and is supported at its left end forrotation by a bearing sleeve 222 on the second turbine shaft 80.

The first turbine blades 64 are fixed to the first turbine shaft 74 bybeing attached to the shell 72 which is disposed just inside the shell102 and at its center is riveted to a flange or hub 224 which may beintegral with the shaft 74.

The second turbine T is attached to its output shaft '80 through thespider 78 which at its center is splined to the rear end of the shaft80.

The third turbine blades 68 are secured to an outer shell 226 whichlatter is riveted to a hub 228 splined to the right end of the T shaft86.

The T shaft 74 extends forward from the torque converter to the rearplanetary gear set and at its front end is splined to the sun gear 76which meshes with the planet pinions 94 journaled on the carrier 90.This carrier includes spindles 230 supported between a rear flange 232formed integral with the output sleeve 1'78 and a front flange 234 whichis splined to the T shaft 86. The T shaft 80 extends forward throughboth planetary gear sets, and is formed with an integral flange 235 atits front end which is riveted to the ring gear 82. The front planetgears 92 are mounted on the front carrier 88 which includes spindles 236supported in a front flange 238 splined to a flange 240 integral withthe T shaft 86. The front sun gear 98 is formed integral with thefreewheeler sleeve 106 and this supports side by side the two sets ofrollers or sprags and 118 which are the ratchet members 110 and 118diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 2. Thus the sleeve 186 forms twocenter races for the two free- E wheelers 106*110108 and 106118116. Therighthand portion of the sleeve 106 on which is the path or track of therollers 118 forms one inner race for the freewheeler 106118-116 whilethe left-hand portion of the sleeve on which is the path of the rollers110 forms the inner race of the free-wheeler 106110108. Out side theratchet members 118 is the rear or inner race 116 which is splined tothe rear ring gear 96. The forward freewheeler includes the forward orouter race 108,

previously referred to, which is splined to drum 242 splined to aconical brake drum 244 which corresponds to the brake 112 in FIG. 2. Therace 108 of the front freewheeler can be positively held againstrotation by clamping the brake drum 244 between a stationary cone 246secured to the transmission casing and a nonrotatable but slidable cone248 which may be urged to the left, to overcome a return spring 250, byan annular piston 252 which can be urged forward by the pressure of oilsupplied by any suitable means to an expandable chamber 254 formed inthe flange 116.

The front ring gear 82 is formed integral with a drum 256 splined to aconical brake drum 256 (corresponding to the reverse brake 84 in FIG. 2)which may be held by clamping between a stationary cone 260 secured tothe transmission casing and a nonrotatable but slidable cone 262 whichmay be urged to the right to overcome the return spring 264 by a forcemultiplying actuator such as a Belleville washer or spring 266 which canbe urged to the right by a primary piston 268 movable by fluid pressurein a cylinder 269 and assisted by a secondary piston 270 actuated byfluid pressure in an expandable chamber 272 formed in the flange 142. Areturn spring 274 between the cones 244 and 258 assures disengagement ofeither cone when its energizing actuator is released.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show one form of construction of freewheelers 108110-106and 116118106. The rear or outer race 116 has pockets 276 having slopingcam surfaces 278 and contain the rollers 118 which are urged to thenarrow end of the pockets by energizing springs 280 to engage the cams2'78 and the center race 106, as is known. When the outer race 116 tendsto rotate counterclockwise with reference to the center race 106, as isseen in FIG. 6, the clutch locks the races together. When the outer racetends to rotate clockwise with respect to the center race, the rollers118 are released and the outer race can turn with respect tothe centerrace. As shown in FIG. 5 the forward freewheeler 108110-106 is similarto the rear freewheeler and has pockets 2'76" containing rollers 110 andenergizing springs 280, the only difference being that the cam surfaces278 slope oppositely to the cam surfaces 278 so that when the centerrace 106 tends to rotate counterclockwise with respect to the forward orouter race 103 the rollers 110 lock the races together.

When cam and roller clutches are used, as above described, the pair offreewheelers is characterized by oppositely sloping cam faces 273 and278'. Alternatively any suitable known form of sprags may be usedinstead of the rollers and where sprag clutches are used the pair ofclutches is characterized by oppositely sloping sprags. Each individualsprag clutch may be of any suitable form known in the art, for examplethat shown in my US. Patent 2,919,608 issued Jan. 5, 1960 on applicationfiled August 2, 1956.

The reaction device, guide wheel or stator R is constructed as shown inFIG. 4B, described at further length below. The stator includes anannular support 290 which can turn on hearing sleeves 291 adjacent therear end of the ground sleeve 210.

The transmission includes suitable thrust bearings to take up thevarious complex axial forces that occur in the operation of the device.The rearward thrust of the impeller is taken by the flange 104 throughthe thrust bearing 187, referred to, which is disposed in a suitableaxial recess in the flange 1'84. Rearward thrust on the stator support290 is taken by a thrust bearing 292 placed in an axial recess in theflange 184. Forward thrust on the first turbine T is taken by the shell102 through a thrust being 294 disposed in an axial recess in the T hub224, which hub takes the thrust of the thirdturbine T through a similarthrust bearing 296 in an axial recess in the hub 228, which latter takesthe thrust of the second turbine T through a thrust bearing 298 disposedin an axial recess in the hub of the second turbine T A thrust bearing300 is placed between the hub of the second turbine T and the statorsupport 290.

In the planetary gear a system of thrust bearings is provided to take upboth forward and rearward thrust. Starting from the front of the gearingany forward thrust on the front ring gear 82 is taken by a thrustbearing 302 which bears against the stationary flange 142. The flange235 of the second turbine shaft which bears against the thrust bearing302 takes any forward thrust from the front carrier. This is transmittedto the bearing 304 by The sun gear 98 in turn can absorb the forwardthrust ward thrust from the sun gear 98 through a bearing 306. the sungear 98 in turn can absorb the forward thrust from the rear carrierthrough the bearing 309 on the rear end of the center race 106 and therear carrier in turn can absorb forward thrust from the rear sun gear 76through the bearing 310. When the ring gear 96 is locked against reverserotation during forward drive, forward thrust on the ring gear istransmitted through the ratchet members 118 to the sun gear 98 where itis taken by the bearing 306. During reverse drive the sun gear rotates,but the bearing 306 takes the forward thrust from the ring gear 96, asbefore explained.

Rearward thrust from the rear carrier is taken by the flange 146 througha thrust bearing 312 and the rear cheek or flange 232 of the carriertakes any rearward thrust of the sun gear 76 through a thrust bearing314. The sun gear in turn can absorb rearward thrust from the ring gear96 through the thrust bearing 310 which supports the forward cheek orflange 232 of the carrier 90 against thrust which it in turn receivesfrom the ring gear through a bearing 316 from the race 116. Any rearwardthrust on the sun gear 98 is taken by the bearing 309 and transmitted tothe bearing 310. Any rearward thrust on the front carrier is taken bythe bearing 306 and any rearward thrust on the ring gear 82 is taken bythe bearing 304.

I claim:

1. A uni-directional torque-transmitting device comprising incombination a first reaction gear, a second reaction gear, a pair ofinner races disposed side by side, rotatably mounted with respect to thefirst reaction gear and non-rotatably connected to each other and to thesecond reaction gear; a first outer race surrounding a first of theinner races; means for selectively permitting or preventing rotation ofsaid first outer race; a second outer race surrounding the second innerrace and non-rotatably connected to the first reaction gear; meansautomatically responsive to tendency of the first inner race to rotatein one sense with respect to the first outer race for transmittingtorque in only said one sense of rotation from the first inner race tosaid first outer race, said inner races being freely rotatable in theopposite sense with respect to said first outer race; and meansautomatically responsive to tendency of the second inner race to rotatein the opposite sense with respect to the second outer race fortransmitting torque in only said opposite sense of rotation from thesecond inner race to the second reaction gear.

2. A uni-directional torque-transmitting device comprising incombination a first reaction gear which is rotatable at times, a secondreaction gear which is rotatable at times, a pair of inner racesdisposed side by side, rotatably mounted With respect to said firstreaction gear and non-rotatably connected to each other and to thesecond reaction gear; a first outer race surrounding one inner race;means for selectively permitting or preventing rotation of said firstouter race; a second outer race surrounding the second inner race andnon-rotatably connected to the first reaction gear; means automaticallyresponsive to tendency of the first inner race to rotate in one senseWith respect to the first outer race for transmitting torque in onlysaid one sense of rotation from the first inner race to said first outerrace, said inner races being freely rotatable in the opposite sense withrespect to said first outer race; and means automatically responsive totendency of the second outer race to rotate in the same sense withrespect to the second inner race for transmitting torque in only saidsame sense of rotation from the first reaction gear to the second innerrace, said first reaction gear being freely rotatable in said oppositesense with respect to said second inner race.

3. A torque transmitting device comprising in combination inner racemeans, a pair of separately rotatable outer races surrounding the innerrace means side by side, means for selectively permitting or preventingrotation of one outer race, means automatically responsive to tendenryof the inner race means to rotate in one sense with respect to said oneouter race for transmitting torque in only said one sense of rotationfrom the inner race means to said one outer race, said inner race meansbeing freely rotatable in the opposite sense with respect to said oneouter race, and means automatically responsive to tendency of the innerrace means to rotate in the opposite sense with respect to the otherouter race for transmitting torque in only said opposite sense ofrotation from the inner race means to the other outer race, the innerrace means being freely rotatable in said one sense With respect to theother outer race.

Cit

4. A uni-directional torque-transmitting device comprising incombination first and second reaction gears, inner race means; first andsecond separately rotatable outer races surrounding the inner race meansside by side; first torque transmitting means automatically responsiveto tendency of the inner race means to rotate in one sense with respectto the first outer race for transmitting torque in only one said senseof rotation from the inner race means to the first outer race, the innerrace means being freely rotatable in the opposite sense with respect tosaid first outer race; means for selectively permitting or preventingrotation of the first outer race in said one sense of rotation; aconnection preventing relative rotation between the inner race means andthe first reaction gear; a connection preventing relative rotationbetween the second outer race and the second reaction gear; secondtorque transmitting means automatically responsive to tendency of thesecond reaction gear to rotate in said one sense with respect to theinner race means for transmitting torque only in the said one sense ofrotation from the second reaction gear to the inner race means; andmeans for positively rotating the second reaction gear in said one sensewhile permitting rotation of said first outer race in said one sense torotate the first reaction gear in said one sense.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re.22,767 Starkey June 11, 1946 455,549 Sternotf-Beyer July 7, 18911,337,634 Benson Apr. 20, 1920 2,061,288 Murray Nov. 17, 1936 2,390,204Curtis Dec. 4, 1945 2,441,926 Zahn et al May 18, 1948 2,884,809 MooreMay 5, 1959 2,886,152 Cobb May 12, 1959 UNITED emits riftn'r orrfefCERHHQATE (if fifliififjfliwff Patent Nov 3 O53 3oi September ll 1962Gilbert Kenneth Hause.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered pat entrequiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read ascorrected below.

Column l line 67 for "of" read to column 6 line 7. for "is", firstoccurrence read it column 10, line 21 after "by" insert the flange 240on the T shaft which in turn takes forward thrust from the sun gear 98through a bearing 306 lines 23 and 24 strike out "ward thrust from thesun gear 98 through a bearing 3060 the sun gear 98 in turn can absorbthe forward thrust"o Signed and sealed this 29th day of January 1963a(SEAL) Attest:

DAVH)L.LADD

Commissioner of Patents ERNEST W6 SWIDER Attesting Ufficer

